IUCRC Phase II+ Virginia Tech: Center to Advance the Science of Exploration to Reclamation in Mining (CASERM)

Mining is essential to modern society's transition to a sustainable future. Meeting the global demand for earth resources is a grand challenge. The Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) to Advance the Science of Exploration to Reclamation in Mining (CASERM) is a collaborative effort between Virginia Tech and the Colorado School of Mines, industry partners, and government agencies.

The Center is interdisciplinary. It strengthens and promotes cross-disciplinary discoveries in geophysics, geochemistry, mineralogy, computational science and statistics, and mining operations and engineering. Knowledge transfer to all areas of the mining and related geoscience sectors is a core Center mission.

The Center's activities transform the way geoscience data are used in the exploration and mining industry sector beginning with the mineral exploration stage and continuing through mine closure and environmental remediation. Center research activities focus on dramatically improving the way global mineral exploration and mining of ores and other natural resources are done, replacing industry experience- and empiricism-based decisions with innovative science and technology-based solutions that inform decision making, increase the chances of exploration success, and reduce financial risk.

Center goals include promoting socio-economic prosperity and helping reduce the environmental impact of mining. Broader impacts include workforce development, an essential element of Center activities. It includes not only graduate and undergraduate students training and involvement in industry-relevant research but also invites industry participation in university research activities focused on advancing the state of the mining sector of the economy; and not simply responding to the needs of a single company.

The Center also engages with community college instructors and students who work with university faculty and students on projects of mining sector importance further advancing its workforce training goals by engaging students working toward two-year degrees or certificates.

The Center to Advance the Science of Exploration to Reclamation in Mining (CASERM) is focused on advancing the exploration/mining industry sector through the establishment of a cooperative partnership with industry that conducts pre-competitive research and workforce development of benefit to the mining industry, academia, and society. The purpose and long-term vision of the Center is for addressing serious research challenges and providing an engine of knowledge creation in the development of 3-D subsurface geologic models for mineral deposits; integrating diverse geoscience data to inform decision making and minimize geological risk; devising new, faster, and more accurate assessments of the economic potential of drill core and other geological specimen taken from the field; advancing the science of mineral exploration; and improving mining operations and safety.

It has five industry-driven research thrusts: (1) mineral exploration and mineral system models; (2) geological modeling and resource characterization; (3) advanced technology solutions; (4) mine development and operations; and (5) social and environmental impacts of mining. The Center's vision requires collaborations across a broad range of disciplines.

For the Virginia Tech Site, the intellectual foundation stems from its unique focus on AI and machine learning that it applies to mine exploration and development needs. Its part in the Center is to develop new and novel means of increasing safety of underground mining, improving yields requiring blasting, and exploring the use of digital twins in the mining sector.

Its collaboration with its partner Site, the Colorado School of Mines, brings expertise in mineral exploration, sample analysis, and integration of new knowledge into established models of ore generation that increase the possibility of finding new ore deposits and harvesting essential elements from mine waste dumps and remediating them to bring them back to environmental health.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.